


Rocky Start

by bansheequeen (queenbanshee), xtremeroswellian



Series: Happily Ever After [3]
Category: Rocky Start - Fandom
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Ring shopping, because it's us
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-18
Updated: 2020-05-18
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:08:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24256393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenbanshee/pseuds/bansheequeen, https://archiveofourown.org/users/xtremeroswellian/pseuds/xtremeroswellian
Summary: An afternoon out ring shopping in Star City ends up with Chloe and Oliver and several others taken hostage in a robbery of the jewelry store. They just can't catch a break.
Relationships: Oliver Queen/Chloe Sullivan
Series: Happily Ever After [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1750879
Kudos: 9





	Rocky Start

**May 17, 2011**

He still wasn't entirely used to being back in Star City, even if he'd spent the majority of his life there. In Metropolis, when he'd come out to the world as Green Arrow, he had been met with a variety of reactions. Some were welcoming, most were surprised, but some...some had been distrustful, even disgusted and downright _hateful_. He'd be grabbing a sandwich from a cafe and realize that everyone was staring at him or watching him warily, probably wondering if he was really there to protect and serve, or if he was just on some massive, stupid ego trip.

Upon his return to his home city, however, he'd been greeted mainly by well-wishers, by warm affectionate smiles and symbolic open arms. He'd also returned to one hell of a pile of fan mail, filled with pictures, cards, letters. People whom he'd apparently helped at one time or another _as_ Green Arrow had written to him, thanking him, begging him to stay in California this time around.

And the looks people gave him as he walked down the streets of his hometown were ones of relief and gratefulness and even a bit of awe.

It was...unexpected.

Even now as he walked down the sidewalk, his fingers linked with Chloe's, his thumb brushing lightly over her still-bare ring finger, people were smiling at him, looking _proud_. As if to say their hero had returned. He wondered how weird all of it was for _her_. Glancing at her sideways as they walked, he gave her hand a little squeeze and cleared his throat. "It's a nice day," he commented.

"Yeah," she agreed, arching her eyebrows a little as she looked up at him, amused. Coming home had _definitely_ been good for his ego. Even the penthouse had been bombarded with fanmail and his public email with all kinds of emails, both good and bad but all of the Star City ones were positive as far as she'd read.

It was more than a little weird to get stared at, though. They hadn't really been out in public together much even now that the Vigilante Registration Act was behind them, they really hadn't had all that much time to anyway. In fact, she hadn't even had time to sit down and _talk_ to him for the past couple of days.

He met her eyes and smiled a little. "Sure you're ready for this?" His voice held a hint of teasing and he raised his eyebrows.

"All things considered," she told him, arching her eyebrows, "I think I can handle a ring."

"I remember a time not so long ago you couldn't handle a _spoon._ " His eyes twinkled with mischief.

Chloe smirked and shook her head a little, "I took the satellite fairly well," she pointed out.

He smiled, but his grip tightened on her hand a fraction as he recalled that day. The same day he'd been kidnapped, tortured, and she'd exchanged herself to save him.

She pursed her lips together and squeezed his hand, knowing exactly what he was thinking about. "What kind of ring do you want?"

"For me, or for you?" he questioned.

"Same difference?" She said, "they have to be similar, right? Look like they go together."

Oliver smiled a little. "Yeah, but you're getting _two_."

She looked at him, cocking her head slightly. "we didn't even get engaged, I don't see a point in getting an engagement ring when we're already _married_."

"The point is I want you to have both," he admitted.

Chloe held her breath at that and considered him for a moment, "fine, then you have to pick my engagement ring for me since you were supposed to to begin with." She really didn't care about the ring, but it looked like it was important to him and she had to get used to letting him get her stuff since he was obviously not giving up on it.

His eyes lit up. "Really?" He honestly figured he'd have to argue a lot more with her about it to get her to agree to the engagement ring part.

"If it's important to you," she said sincerely, looking up at him, "I figured there isn't a point in arguing, but this does not mean you get to just keep... buying things just to buy."

"It is important to me," he said softly. "It's just...if and when we decide to have kids..." He paused, knowing they really hadn't ever talked about that at all and he hoped bringing it up now wouldn't freak her out too much. "It'd be nice for them to have our rings one day. You know? To pass down the line." He looked down for a moment, then back up at her. "I wish I had my mom's rings that I could give to you, even just for tradition's sake, but..." He smiled sadly, shaking his head. "I don't."

Chloe stilled at that and looked away, pursing her lips together as her heart raced. She took a deep breath and nodded slightly, tightening her grip on his hand but remaining quiet this time.

His chest tightened at her expression and he swallowed hard. "I know we haven't talked about that, I just...it's something I've been thinking about."

"Right," she breathed, trying not to wince then glanced at him, "except I don't think outside, with a bunch of curious ears around is a good place to talk about it."

Oliver looked down, wincing a little. "Right." People didn't even know they were _married_ , and he certainly didn't want to risk making her the talk of the city.

"Lets get this done and then we'll go home." She told him, glancing at him. She didn't want to upset him, but she couldn't tell him _now_.

"Yeah, okay." He managed a faint, small smile and gave her hand a squeeze before letting it go and pulling open the door to the jewelry shop, holding it open for her.

Chloe looked around for a moment, half expecting to see paparazzi around considering everyone was staring at them everywhere they went, but when she saw no cameras, she stepped in, glancing at him then walking further into the shop.

He held his breath when she hesitated, wondering if she was considering fleeing at the last minute.

"Hello," an older man greeted, smiling at Chloe, "how can I--" he paused when his eyes fell on Oliver, his eyes widening, "Mr. Queen!"

He smiled faintly, nodding at the man. "Hello," he greeted, glancing back at Chloe and holding his hand out toward her.

She took his hand and arched her eyebrows a little, she was pretty sure that the old man would have dollar signs in his eyes if they were a cartoon. He had smiled at her but he was gleeful now that he realized the richest man in the state was in his store.

"What can I do for you today?" He asked.

"We're here to look at rings," Oliver told him, sliding his arm around Chloe's waist after tugging her closer.

"Rings?" His eyes widened and he looked at the woman once more then smiled, "of course, right this way."

Chloe shook her head a little and looked up at Oliver, smirking even as the other customers and employees all turned their heads in their direction.

A small smile tugged at his mouth as he looked down at her. "You're going to wish you'd let me have them custom design something," he whispered against her ear.

Her eyes narrowed slightly at him and she stared up at him, "why?"

"Because any minute someone in here is going to be calling the tabloids," he informed her, raising his eyebrows and guiding her toward the far counter where the man was waiting, looking quite eager.

"I thought you were done hiding it." She pointed out, arching an eyebrow at him. She wasn't looking forward to having her name all over the papers but she figured it would happen sooner or later.

"Oh, I am," he assured her, nodding a little. "But I was planning to have a press conference." He kissed her temple.

"I suppose we should have talked about this _before_ we came in here," she told him, smiling at the man slightly.

"What kind of rings are you looking for?" He asked, "have a seat and I'll start bringing out the samples."

"Engagement and wedding," Oliver said, his voice quiet so as not to attract the attention of the other customers.

"Of course!" He said excitedly, "diamonds, I presume?"

"He's picking it out," Chloe told the man when he looked at her.

Oliver rubbed his thumb lightly over her hip and nodded at the older man. "Yeah, let's see what you've got."

Chloe leaned closer to him and did her best not to look around as she heard whispers.

"Have a seat," he offered again, pointing at the chairs, "I'll be back in a second."

Nodding, Oliver pulled one of the chairs out for her and raised his eyebrows a little as he watched the older man vanish into the back. He looked down at Chloe, unable to bite back a grin.

She couldn't stop herself from smiling at the look on his face, shaking her head slightly, she rounded the chair and sat down, looking up at him and waiting until he was sitting next to her before leaning in, "for the record, you're so the girl in this relationship." She teased in a whisper.

He arched an eyebrow at her. "I'm fairly certain I'll have to demonstrate how _inaccurate_ that statement is as soon as we get home."

"Good luck," she challenged, smirking slowly.

"Oh, it's not about luck," he informed her with a smirk of his own.

"What is it about? _Skills_?" She asked, leaning a little closer.

"And charm," he murmured, reaching out and resting a hand on her shoulder as he leaned in, as well. He brushed his nose against hers. "And being completely irresistible."

"Pretty sure that's for me to decide," she whispered to him, smiling as she patted his leg.

He kissed the corner of her mouth lightly, then moved his lips to her ear, kissing her there, too. "Mmhmm."

Chloe pulled back and arched her eyebrows a little, "I think we're already giving them enough of a show, don't you?"

He frowned, pulling back, too and facing forward, a faint pout on his lips.

She grinned a little and rolled her eyes, "we could always dye your hair again," she smirked, leaning back against her chair.

"Yeah, _that_ worked out so well last time," he pointed out, rolling his eyes, as well.

"It was fine until you decided to steal someone else's limo." She smirked, looking down at the rings and bracelets they had on display in front of her.

His mouth dropped open in protest. " _We_ ," he responded. "You didn't exactly protest."

"Arguable," Chloe grinned, glancing at him.

Oliver made a dismissive noise, giving her a sidelong look. "You were just as eager as I was to solve the night's mystery."

"Here you go," the man came back carrying a couple of trays, dozens of diamond rings of every kind on both of them.

Chloe smirked at Ollie and sat up a little to look at them better.

He shook his head at her, making a mental note to argue his case more later. He sat up more, as well and leaned forward, looking over the trays of rings and scanning them slowly. Less than a minute later, he shook his head again, sitting back. "No."

The man looked at Oliver, surprised then nodded a little, "is there a specific style you're looking for, Mr. Queen?"

"Unique," he said without hesitation. "Something classy and gorgeous. Not too flashy, but not too small either."

"And the purest diamonds we have?" The man asked as he picked up the trays once more.

He considered that for a moment, glancing at Chloe sideways. "Yes."

Chloe rolled her eyes a little then smiled at him, shaking her head slightly.

"I'll be right back," the man announced before vanishing to the back room once more.

Oliver shifted a little and sighed softly. "Is it hot in here or is it just me?" he asked her.

"Yeah," Chloe nodded a little, "and considering we're supposed to hit one hundred this afternoon, I'm guessing it's only gonna get hotter." She shook her head, "a hundred degrees and it's not even June yet."

"Gotta love global warming," he said, reaching up and rubbing the back of his neck. He glanced around the store, not surprised that everyone else was still looking curiously in their direction. He smiled a little, a rush of some unknown emotion making his chest warm when everyone smiled back instantly. He looked over at her once more, reaching out and covering her hand with his own.

She looked over at him and turned her hand in his, linking their fingers together but not looking at anyone else. The attention was definitely gonna take some getting used to.

"I love you," he murmured.

Her chest felt warmer instantly and she squeezed his hand, "love you too," she told him quietly, smiling softly.

Oliver smiled softly in return, lifting her hand to his mouth and kissing her knuckles.

Chloe smiled back at him, brushing her fingers against his then stilling as she saw movement out of the corner of her eyes, turning to look at the door, her eyes widened.

"Everyone, to the ground, _now_!" One of the five hooded men that had just walked into the shop ordered, pointing his gun at one of the employees, "don't even think about touching that!"

He resisted the urge to groan. _Really? Today of all days?_ He wasn't sure why but he'd hoped they could at least go one day without some kind of crisis to deal with. Apparently that was not going to be the case. "Figures," he muttered.

She normally would have rolled her eyes too but she had a little more than usual to worry about. "Don't _do_ anything," she told him, holding his gaze and tugging on his hand as she slid down from her chair to the floor.

He raised his eyebrows at her as he slid down on the floor beside her. "I can't not do _something_ ," he whispered.

"If they realize who you are, they will target you," She whispered, staring at him, "lower your head."

Oliver glanced over to where the five gunmen were, then around the store at the now frightened customers, a couple of whom were looking over at him hopefully.

Chloe's jaw clenched and she reached for his head, forcing him to look down.

He looked at her, seeing the obvious tension in her expression and gave her a small smile. "Everything's going to be fine. Comparatively speaking, this isn't that big a deal," he pointed out.

She gave him a look then looked over at the men, taking a deep breath as she wished she'd get one of the Fate helmet flashes about now and figure out how it was going to play out, but she knew it wasn't going to happen. Everything she'd seen had already played out.

"Mr. Queen, I have--" The older man came through the door once more not noticing the gunmen at first.

"Get _down_ on the ground, Old Man," one of them ordered, cocking the gun and aiming it at him.

Chloe stilled when the man said his name, closing her eyes, her jaw clenching.

"Queen?" One of the other men said, turning his attention to the two of them.

 _Shit_. He lifted his head and looked up, raising his eyebrows a little. "That's me," he said calmly.

She sighed deeply, wanting to kick him. Of course he'd just jump at the chance to make himself the attention of the men with the gun so he could keep everyone else safe.

Two of the gunmen moved toward them a moment later, "hey, it is him," one of the men said gun pointing to Oliver's head instantly, "the asshole that ruined last week's job."

He raised his eyebrows, mentally sizing up the two men closest to him. If it was just them, he could take them down easily. But with the other three across the room with a room full of potential hostages, he didn't want to risk the possible casualties. Not to mention his _wife_ was there with him. He was going to have to keep cool for the time being. "Look, guys. I doubt any of you want trouble today. And let's be honest--we all know I've got a lot more money than all the diamonds and gold in this little store. So why don't you let everyone go, and we'll take a short walk down to the bank and I can give you some cash."

"Take everyone to the back room," the first man ordered, "leave Queen and his whore here, I wanna keep an eye on _Green Arrow_."

Chloe swallowed hard, her stomach tightening and turning instantly. " _Don't_." She whispered to Oliver, knowing he wasn't going to take the 'whore' part lightly.

His jaw tensed involuntarily and his eyes narrowed as he glared up at the man. "Apparently your mother failed to teach you any manners."

"Your mother didn't teach you when to shut up," one of them answered, kicking his side, "oh yeah, you didn't _have_ one." He laughed as a couple of the others chuckled.

With a deep breath, Chloe lifted her head, "he's not going to do anything, leave him alone and go get whatever you want."

"Well, well, the whore speaks." The first man smirked down at her, crouching down a moment later.

"You touch her and I'll kill you," Oliver said quietly, his eyes dark, and his entire body tensing for a fight.

Her jaw clenched and she wanted more than anything to tell Oliver to shut up, but she stopped herself, focusing on the one who crouched down next to her instead, "you're the big men with the guns, he's unarmed. Just do what you came here for, deviating from your plan will make it messy and riskier."

"I like a little risk, Sweetheart." His smirk widened. "Besides. I think we just found something that will bring in a lot more cash flow than a few diamonds."

With narrowed eyes, she stared up at him, then smirked "you think he cares about me?" Chloe shook her head a little, "you really need to read the papers more closely, I'm just this week's, as you put it, whore."

The man's gaze flickered to Oliver and he raised his eyebrows. "A whore he just threatened to kill me over," he responded, rising to his feet again. "Get up. Slowly."

"He's a big hero," Chloe went on, getting to her knees then standing slowly, "he has to put on a show and he knows it." She didn't look at Oliver, she had the feeling he was taking all of this personally.

"Well, today we're the ones putting on the show," he informed her, looking her over. "Not exactly the type he normally goes for, are you?"

Oliver gritted his teeth and got up to his knees. "How much do you want?"

Chloe did turn to look at Oliver this time, her eyes narrowing.

"Tie them up," the leader called as the other two men moved the rest of the hostages to the back room.

He glared at the man that drew closer to them, his hands clenched into fists as the man eyed Oliver warily. "You sure you want to be doing this?" His voice was low, filled with warning.

The man lifted his gun and pressed it to Chloe's forehead, "are you?"

Oliver forced himself to relax, his heart thundering in his chest faster than a stampede of wild horses. "No one needs to get hurt here."

Chloe held her breath and didn't move, she knew she could take his gun and take him down while Oliver took the other one down and she could shoot the gun out of the leader's hand without a problem. For a second, she considered it, and then her head started to spin and she knew she couldn't risk it.

He looked at her sideways, noting that she wasn't looking at him and realizing she wasn't going to move, even though he didn't know why. He knew she'd learned plenty of fighting techniques during her time with the Suicide Squad, and he'd seen her in action on more than one occasion. But she wasn't moving, and he wasn't going to risk her life by moving, either. Anger flickered through him as he held his hands up.

"That's better," the man said, pulling his gun away from her forehead. "Now turn around and put your hands behind your back."

She took a deep breath and did as she was told, glancing at Oliver and watching him do the same. Relaxing slightly when he did, at letting out a breath.

He looked at her once more, raising his eyebrows a little.

Chloe glanced at him and shook her head slightly, her stomach turning more and the damn heat wasn't doing her any favors.

Oliver grimaced as the man yanked his arms farther behind his back and put a pair of handcuffs on his wrists. "Handcuffs, really? What are you, ex-cops?" he couldn't stop himself from asking.

"You like hearing your own damn voice too much," the man said, shoving Oliver to a corner of the room and pushing him to the floor as the second man did the same to Chloe.

She closed her eyes, turning on her side so her hips would hit the floor first, relieved that at least she didn't have to stand.

"Jackass," he muttered under his breath, looking over at her. "You all right?"

Chloe took a deep breath and nodded a little but kept her eyes closed as she leaned back against the cool wall, but remained quiet. She was afraid that if she opened her mouth, she was going to be sick.

He held his breath for a moment, watching as her face grew pale. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

She stretched her legs flat on the floor and sat back further, hoping it would help with the nausea and when it did, she opened her eyes slowly, not even realizing he had spoken again.

"Chloe?" His voice held more than a hint of worry to it.

With a deep breath, she turned to look at him and the second she saw the worry in his eyes, she shook her head, "I'm fine."

"You're really pale," he whispered.

"It's the heat," she murmured.

"Yeah, it's really warm in here," he agreed, glancing around and his gaze resting on the five men who were huddled together talking quietly.

She took another deep breath then turned to look at him, "I'll call Clark."

"We could have taken them."

"I couldn't risk it." She told him, looking away from him.

His eyebrows furrowed. "We've risked it in more serious scenarios plenty of times."

"How am I supposed to aim when my head is spinning, Oliver?" She snapped, turning to look at him again.

Oliver blinked. "I didn't know you weren't feeling well," he pointed out, frowning.

"Well, now you do." She told him, sitting back against the wall and leaning her head back against it once more.

"If you had told me, we could've stayed home."

"I was fine until a few minutes ago." She pointed out, "let it go."

"Shut up over there!" the leader shouted at them, glaring in their direction.

Chloe sighed deeply and closed her eyes, more than happy to keep quiet. If they couldn't talk, Oliver couldn't ask questions that she didn't want to answer. All she had to do was close her eyes and she didn't have to see the worried looks he was no doubt giving her.

He glared back at the men, then glanced around to see what his options were for possible weapons.

She felt he move next to her a moment later and turned to look at him, "what are you doing?"

"Looking around," he murmured, his eyes focusing on an axe behind glass a few feet away. "Bingo."

"No." She told him firmly, sitting up.

"My head _isn't_ spinning," he told her. Of course, before he could do anything with an axe he'd have to find a way to get out of the handcuffs.

"There are five of them, Oliver. They have guns and they are ready to take you down for intruding on their plans last week, whatever that was. Stop."

Oliver stared at her. "You want me to just sit here."

"Yes." She said firmly, holding his gaze, "that's exactly what I want you to do, I'll call for Clark when they go in to get everything out of the safe or whatever it is they have in the back and we'll get out."

"Don't you think I've put Clark through enough in the past week? I ruined his wedding."

"No one blames you, I've told you that how many times already? He can be here in seconds and they won't be expecting him." She pointed out.

"Until you scream," he grumbled, sitting back against the wall.

"That still doesn't give them enough time to react," she told him, turning to look at him again, "and you obviously don't have any better ideas."

"Did I do something to piss you off?" he asked, shaking his head.

"I want you to _stop_ trying to do something, Oliver. That's my problem." She lied, taking a deep breath.

"I don't get it. Back in Metropolis you insisted I stay behind to do the hero thing and now you want to call Clark instead?"

"This is hardly the same situation." She pointed out, but didn't offer him further explanation. She knew the two of them could put an end to this but the truth was, she was scared. For the same reason she had left Metropolis when she did, for the same reason she hadn't tried to stop the fight at the church. She couldn't _risk_ it.

He stared at her, confusion all over his face. "Yeah, we were fighting the alien equivalent of _Satan_ before."

Chloe blew out a breath, "can you just stop arguing with me? I can't help you and I'm not letting you do this alone."

He narrowed his eyes a little at that. "Fine," he said, pursing his lips and resting his back against the wall.

She sighed deeply and rolled her eyes, resting her head back against the wall and shifting as her arms started to fall asleep. There were only two men in there now, the other three had vanished where the other hostages were, but she knew they hadn't gone in the direction where the old men had been to yet which was, no doubt, where they kept their stock.

Everything was pretty much silent for a long moment and then, all of the sudden, Chloe jumped when she heard a gun firing from inside the other room.

Oliver's eyes widened as his head whipped over to stare toward the room. "What the hell..."

"They are probably just trying to intimidate them," she reasoned, fighting every instinct to just free herself and get it over with and to protect the people inside. She should have taken the chance when she had the opportunity and they'd all be out of there by now. But for the first time since Oliver was kidnapped by the Suicide Squad, she was actually scared, terrified even, of something going wrong.

He hoped she was right, but he wasn't convinced by any means. "Call for Clark." He twisted his wrists against the handcuffs, gritting his teeth.

Chloe took a deep breath and was about to open her mouth when one of the men made his way to them, " _shut up_!" He ordered.

Oliver glared up at him, simply staring at him hard, memorizing every detail of the man's face. Because if Clark or the cops didn't catch them, Green Arrow sure as hell _would_.

She glared up at the man too, eyes narrowing as she closed her mouth, jaw tightening.

"That's better." He glared down at them. "Now stay quiet or you'll be sorry." He moved away from them once more.

Chloe took a deep breath and stared at him for a moment then shifted closer to Oliver, turning her back toward him, "car keys." She muttered.

"What?" His eyebrows furrowed a little as he glanced at her.

"They are our best shot at unlocking this," she whispered over her shoulder to him, very quietly.

Oliver shifted closer to her, keeping his eyes on the thugs across the room. "Back left pocket," he whispered back just as quietly.

She kept her eyes on them too and reached for his pants, twisting her hand a little and pulling the keys from his pocket carefully with her fingertips.

He held his breath as he felt her remove the keys from his pocket, chewing the inside of his cheek.

Chloe took a deep breath, wrapping her fingers tightly around the keys so they wouldn't make noise, "move your hands closer," she whispered.

He moved his hands closer to hers, ignoring the uncomfortable position it put his wrists in.

She felt her way around the keys, picking out one of the vault keys to the hidden office in their apartment, it was the smallest one of them. Pursing her lips together, she felt her way around his handcuffs and tried her best to ignore her stomach, which was turning again.

"You know everything's going to be fine, right?" he whispered. "We'll be all right."

"We better," she whispered, stilling when she managed to get the key into the hole, partially anyway, "don't move."

"We always are." Oliver held completely still, staring at the men across the room.

Chloe let out her breath slowly and started to turn the key, coughing quietly when she felt it starting to turn so that they wouldn't hear the noise of the handcuffs opening.

He felt her jiggle the key around a little and the lock made a quiet popping sound, effectively covered up her coughing. "Good job," he whispered, lowering the cuffs slowly to the floor and setting them down soundlessly before plucking the keys from her hand and working on _her_ handcuffs.

She nodded slightly and shifted her hands toward him, watching as the two men spoke quietly, "what then?"

He was silent for a moment, then smirked briefly as he felt her handcuffs give, as well. "How's your head?"

Sighing in relief, she shifted a little, keeping her hands behind her back as she leaned back against the wall, "okay for now."

"Well enough to play hero?" he murmured as he did the same, glancing at her sideways.

"Not much of a choice, right?" She told him, glancing at him too, her heart beating faster.

"Always a choice," he said quietly. "And I don't want to risk it if you're not feeling well enough."

"We can't leave those people in there," she sighed, looking down at herself and chewing on her lip.

Oliver shifted so he could look at her better. "We'll get it over with quickly." And then he was going to take her to see a doctor.

"Take those down then move in," she told him, glancing in the direction the other three were with the hostages.

He nodded slightly, shifting once more, this time preparing to spring into action--finally. "On the count of three."

* * *

About forty minutes later, the cops were taking all five men out of the store, the old man who had been helping them, who turned out to be the owner, was thanking Oliver and Chloe had managed to sit back down on one of the chairs. The heat was unbearable but somehow they had managed to take all five of them down without any of the hostages, themselves included, getting hurt.

She had no idea what had happened, not really. Everything was a blur and personally, she was just glad it was over.

Oliver shook the older man's hand once more, then moved over to Chloe's side, reaching out and resting a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, you ready to get out of here?" He took note of the fact that she was even paler now than she had been before.

Chloe took a deep breath and nodded slightly before looking up at him, "yeah," she told him before standing up.

He slid his arm around her waist, pulling her close to his side. "I think we should stop by the hospital on the way home. Get you checked out and make sure you're not coming down with something."

"I'm not sick," she told him, leaning against his side as she wrapped her arm around him, swallowing hard.

"You're really pale, Chloe," he murmured, his eyebrows furrowing as he led her out the door.

"I'm fine," she said again, looking back up at him.

Oliver met her eyes and sighed softly at her stubbornness. "If you say so."

Not having enough energy to argue, she leaned her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes, letting him lead her back to the car.

He kept his arm around her while he unlocked the door to the car moments later, pulling it open for her. "Come on, Professor. We can take a nice nap when we get home."

Chloe was more than a little surprised that he wasn't arguing more with her about seeing a doctor, but she was glad he wasn't. She took her seat and looked up at him, pursing her lips together and nodding slightly.

He gazed at her for a moment, then dipped his head and kissed her softly on the mouth. "I love you," he whispered.

Her chest tightened a little and she cupped his cheek as she kissed him back, "love you too."

He relaxed a little, glad that she didn't seem to be upset with him over everything that had happened. He leaned into her touch for a moment, then reluctantly pulled away, standing up and shutting the car door carefully. He moved around to his side of the car and climbed into the passenger seat. Maybe once they actually got home, she'd tell him what was going on.

She turned up the air conditioning as soon as he started the car, then leaned back against her seat and turned to look at him, "I'm pregnant." She said finally.

Oliver started to say something right as she made her statement, and it took a moment for him to realize she'd spoken. And then it took him _another_ moment to realize what she'd actually said. He stared at her, his eyes slightly wider than normal. "...what?"

Chloe nodded a little, glad he hadn't pulled out of the parking spot yet. "Almost two months," she said quietly, watching him and feeling a little better now that it wasn't so hot.

He blinked a few times. "Almost two months?" he echoed, his eyes wider.

Biting down on her bottom lip, she nodded slightly.

He opened his mouth to speak, and realized he had no idea what to say. His stomach knotted as he realized how dangerous of a situation they'd just been in, and how he'd had no clue. He rubbed a hand over his face and stared out the windshield.

She didn't say anything, just kept her eyes on him as she leaned back against her seat. Giving him time to process the information.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" he whispered, turning his head to look at her after a long moment.

"Because I didn't have _time_ to tell you," she said, looking back at him, taking a deep breath, "I found out while you were gone searching for the bow and then there was the wedding and Tess and setting up Watchtower here..."

He winced a little. "Right. I didn't mean to sound accusatory, I just..."

She nodded a little and rubbed her hand over her face, "and until this morning, I had no idea how you'd react."

"This morning?" he asked, shaking his head in confusion.

"When you talked about how if we had kids, you would want a ring to pass down to them," she said quietly.

"Oh." He blinked and shifted in the seat so he was facing her better. " _That's_ why you got so quiet? I thought..."

"Yeah, I figured." She told him, looking over at him.

A smile tugged at his mouth as he gazed at her. "We're having a baby."

Chloe cocked her head a little, watching him closely. One of the reasons she'd asked him a few days ago if he'd have still married her despite Zatanna's spell was because she wanted to make sure he didn't regret being with her in the first place and wasn't having second thoughts about their marriage before she mentioned this to him.

Not that she thought he was but, her being pregnant was as big a shock to her as finding out they were married had been and this was so much more life changing than that. "Yeah... we are."

He grinned involuntarily as he met her eyes. "And everything's okay, right? I mean, you've seen a doctor and been checked out?"

She nodded, relaxing a little at the grin on his face, "I wanted to wait for you to go in, but I was really dizzy and I was getting sick a lot, so I went in a couple of days before the wedding. Everything is okay."

"Thank God." He leaned closer to her and kissed her cheek. "What should I be doing? Do you need anything?"

"No..." she said quietly, "the doctor gave me a list of things I can't eat and vitamins, but there isn't much more we need to do for now."

He started to nod, but then his eyes widened. "Except buy furniture and baby clothes and diapers and paint the nursery and baby-proof the penthouse." He paused. "Maybe we should think about moving into my parents' mansion. There's a lot more room. Of course when he starts crawling around, he might get lost. Maybe we should get a tracking device for him. Or do you think that's too over-protective?"

Chloe paused and just listened for a moment, cocking her head then smirking slightly, "him?"

"Or her," he said, shrugging a little.

"Mhmm," she told him, smiling a little, "no, I don't think a tracking device is too much considering this is our kid and... I have no idea if we should move or not."

He cocked his head to look at her. "I guess we have a few days to talk about it."

"Months," she corrected him, sighing softly and relaxing a little, relieved that he knew and seemed to be taking it well.

"Only seven. And it'd be less stressful if we were settled before he--or she," he added, "Got here."

Chloe watched him for a moment then cupped the back of his head and pulled him closer, pressing her lips to his.

He returned the kiss without hesitation, lifting a hand to her cheek as she cut off every train of thought he'd been riding. He groaned softly, brushing his nose over hers.

She smiled softly against his lips and kissed him deeply for a moment before looking up at him, "and for the record, we're ordering our rings online."


End file.
